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General issues for new Website owners

 

Are you interested in a website for your business? There are some things you may need to know, how the internet and websites function for example, and what laws may apply to your business when operating with or through an internet site.

 

What is the internet?

The internet or world wide web is like a huge electronic library, in which websites are like books or documents. Users are able to find websites or documents and navigate around the web using computer programs installed on their computer, like Microsoft's Explorer programme.

 

Users normally access the web via an internet service provider, or ISP, who have access to the telecommunications companies who in effect operative the internet. ISP's may also "host" (i.e. store) website' on their computer systems, provide users with software enabling them to access and use the internet, and send and receive emails. ISPs sometimes also design websites and offer security tools for protecting information transmitted via the internet.

 

Generally, users access the internet using a normal phone line and dial up technology, or they may use broadband technology that enables data to be transmitted at higher speed. This makes using the web much quicker without long waiting periods for information to be downloaded.

 

What is a website?

Think of a website like a book or brochure, which contains words, pictures and sometimes sounds. Websites range from one page brochures with basic information about the website owners, to large sites like shops that enable users to communicate with the website owner to buy their products or services.

 

Each page of a website on the internet has an address known as an internet protocol address, which is a set of numbers. These numbers are also given a name in order to make them more memorable, known as a domain name (eg www.bbc.co.uk). Users wishing to set up a website must choose a name, and if that name is available, they can register as the legal owner, for example, the manager of most .uk domains is Nominet UK.

 

The first page of a website is crucial to create a good impression of the website owner. It will usually contain contact details, the owner's logo, and a description of the goods and services the owner is marketing. It should also contain the terms and conditions on which users may use the site and trade with the owner (see below).

 

Website law

Since a website is accessible to users with an internet connection anywhere in the world, a website owner can potentially incur liability under the laws in any jurisdiction where the site is accessed, as well as its home jurisdiction. Website terms and conditions therefore are likely to incorporate disclaimers which exclude or restrict such liabilities. The owner's privacy policy will help the owner obtain users' consent to use any personal data they may submit during website use. There may also be restrictions which prohibit certain users visiting certain parts of the site, or at all. Further, the site may describe the terms on which users may purchase goods and services directly from the site.

 

Website security

Since website content is held in what is effectively a public space, it is never possible to completely protect information that is exchanged electronically. Other internet users or hackers may gain access to other computer systems in order to obtain confidential information such as credit card numbers, or to otherwise damage a site. Hackers may also introduce viruses which carries out a useless or destructive function (such as overwriting the information on a user's hard disk), and which may cause the system to crash. Viruses may, for example, be contained in software downloaded from the web, e-mail attachments or programs on floppy disks and CD-ROMs.

 

Measures that are widely used to prevent unauthorised access to intranets and extranets (see above) include the use of a firewall to guard the gateway between a company's private network and the public internet. This is software which scrutinises each network packet to determine whether it should be forwarded to the private network or denied access.

 

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